It is impossible to imagine the Mexican cuisine, in which there is no jalapeno pepper (photo presented in the article). It is he who gives her dishes a piquant, immediately recognizable taste. Although it is one of the varieties of the world-famous chili, Mexicans prefer this particular variety, consuming hot red pepper much less often. We still have jalapenos to some extent considered exotic. Many even faintly imagine what it is. Our article is intended to enlighten domestic culinary specialists in this regard.
What is jalapeno pepper
The main distinguishing feature for which it is especially appreciated is the miniature size of the pepper. The maximum to which the pod grows is nine centimeters. But the best are small, 5-6-centimeter peppers. At first they are green, but they turn red as they grow. High quality jalapenos are considered to be red. It is green pods that are consumed fresh and pickled; reds are usually dried, ground and added to seasonings. They are also good in smoked form. But at home, red peppers are so unpopular that they are even used as fertilizer. They collect jalapenos and process them with protective gloves, as the burning juice irritates the skin.
There are a lot of varieties of this pepper. They differ not only in the place of growth and “appearance”, but also in the degree of sharpness and aroma. The most popular are three:
- espinaltico: pods with sharp tips;
- peludo: the peppers are thick and fairly long;
- morita: pods are short and rounded.
Despite the fact that jalapeno peppers are from the genus chili, its hotness is average. So it is quite suitable for those who avoid pronounced sharpness.
Pepper benefit
Like any other vegetable, jalapenos are very rich in vitamins (A, C, K, B1, B5) and potassium with sodium. In much smaller quantities, it includes magnesium, calcium, manganese and iron, in already very small doses - zinc and selenium. It contains other compounds important for the body: havicin, capsorubin, carotenoids, linolenic and linoleic acids, sugar and essential oils. So, if you regularly eat jalapenos, you can get the following bonuses:
- strengthen the walls of blood vessels;
- noticeably improve vision, skin and hair quality;
- get rid of insomnia, depression and loss of strength;
- to stabilize the sugar rate in diabetes.
Even if jalapeno pepper is very rare in your diet, it still has a restorative effect on the body.
Harm jalapenos
There are very few restrictions on its use. Do not get carried away with pepper nursing mothers and pregnant women, but this applies to any other spices. Caution (at first) for jalapenos should be taken by those who are prone to allergies. The reaction, however, is usually not caused by the spicy product itself, but by the preservatives used in pickling. So fresh vegetable may not affect the well-being of an allergic person. Well, of course, it is contraindicated in ulcers and patients with gastritis: they can’t eat anything sharp at all.
How to eat jalapenos
When jalapeno peppers are processed, seeds from it are usually removed at the harvesting stage, together with the partitions to which they are attached. It is these walls that are responsible for the degree of bitterness; with their removal, the taste becomes much milder. There is a variation of the pods pickled with the seeds. In this case, the jalapeno pepper is not only sharp, but also obvious sourness.
In Mexico, the most favorite dish with this vegetable is stuffed peppers - nachos. The stuffing is cheese or minced meat. Very original and surprisingly delicious jelly and jalapenos. Chocolate pepper is also unusual - the contrast of sharpness and sweetness is very piquant. And non-alcoholic sangrit, seasoned with it, acquires an unexpected taste and perfectly quenches thirst.
Italy borrowed jalapenos to add zest to pizzas. In the States, they season cheese crackers with them. In most of Europe, they prefer to "put into action" pickled peppers, which are steamed with cream cheese .
Pickle yourself
If the store-bought pickled jalapenos are not credible, you can cook them with your own hands. The question of whether to take out the seeds, everyone decides for himself. From 15 pods cuttings-tails are cut. The peppers themselves are cut into rings. A quarter of a liter of water is poured into a small saucepan, two tablespoons of coarse (maybe sea) salt and four are added sugar. Two cloves of garlic are put in, a glass of vinegar is poured, and the dish is set on fire. When the bulk solids dissolve, pepper rings are immersed in the marinade. Literally a minute later, the pan is removed from the fire, after a quarter of an hour of insisting, the jalapenos are laid out in a jar and filled with marinade. When it cools down - the jar is tightly twisted and put in the refrigerator.
Mexican recipe
We offer to cook your favorite in this country nachos. For him, hot jalapeno peppers - twenty pieces - are washed and dried. An incision is made along each pod, through which seeds are carefully scraped. Instead, a cheese stick is laid. A batter is made of 100 grams of flour for tempura and three tablespoons of very cold, directly from the freezer, water. If you didn’t get such flour, mix equal amounts of wheat and rice, and pre-beat the water with the egg, salt and quenched soda. Stuffed peppers are dipped in batter and fried until beautiful golden. Excess oil is decanted through a sieve or cleaned with a paper towel. That's all - you can start the Mexican meal.
Jalapenos in bacon
In this recipe, the opposite is true: jalapeno peppers act as a filling. Each washed pod is half lengthwise and is cleaned of seeds with partitions. Two-thirds of the halves are filled with cream cheese (or cottage cheese, grated with herbs and slightly salted), sprinkled with grated hard cheese and wrapped in strips of bacon. So that they do not turn around, you can put "rolls" on toothpicks. Pods in bacon are laid out on a baking sheet and put in a preheated oven for a third of an hour.